--------------- Pavement Structural Design ---------------

AASHTO Method
Design of Flexible Highway Pavement :
AASHTO Guide for Design of Pavement Structures, 1986/ 1993 .

1. DESIGN REQUIREMNTS.
The basic requirements for flexible pavement design could be classified into four
categories; Design Variables, Performance Criteria, Material Properties for Structural
Design, and Pavement structural Characteristics, as described in the following section.
1.1 Design Variables .
1.1.1 Time Constraints
Performance period, refers to the period of time that an initial pavement structure
will last before it needs rehabilitation. Analysis period, refers to the period of time
for which the analysis will be conducted, it is analogous to the term ʽʽ design life ʼʼ.
Table 1 present guidelines for analysis period . If the designer considers the
performance period equal to the analysis period, it means that the initial structure is
assumed to be lasting the entire analysis period .
Table 1: Analysis Period .
Analysis period
Highway condition
(years)
High-volume urban 30-50
High-volume rural 20-50
Low-volume paved 15-25
Low-volume aggregate surface 10-20

1.1.2 Traffic.
The design procedures for roadways are based on wʼ18 : cumulative expected 18-kip
equivalent single axle loads (ESAL) during the analysis period . The total volume of
traffic during the analysis period equal the first year traffic estimate multiplied by the
growth factor .

𝑤 ′18 = 𝑇𝑟𝑎𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑤𝑡ℎ 𝐹𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟 × 𝐹𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡 𝑌𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑇𝑟𝑎𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐 𝐸𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑒 (1)

To determine traffic (𝑤18) that will be used in the design lane, the following equation
is used to account for the directional and lane distribution factor:

𝑤18 = 𝐷𝐷 × 𝐷𝐿 × 𝑤 ′18 (2)

Where,
DD = directional distribution factor, expressed as a ratio, that accounts for the
distribution of ESAL units by direction, e.g., east-west, north-south
DL = a lane distribution factor, expressed as a ratio, that accounts for distribution of
traffic when two or more lanes are available in on direction, and
𝑤 ′18 = the cumulative two-direction 18-kip ESAL units predicted for a specific
section of roadway during the analysis period, as explained above.
The directional distribution factor DD is generally 0.5 (50%) for most roadways,
however it may vary from 0.3 to 0.7 depending on whether more or less traffic is
passing in one direction than the other. DL factor is listed in Table 2 .

Table 2: Lane Distribution Factor, DL

Number of Lane in Each
Percent of ESAL in Design Lane
Direction
1 100
2 80-100
3 60-80
4 50-75

In the absence of vehicle traffic statistics, the statistics can be deduced from the
following table (3) prepared by AASHTO .

Table 3: Traffic Classification :

Range of heavy
Traffic Types of trucks expected ESAL
class street or highway in design period
I Parking lots, driveways Less than 7000 5 × 103
Light traffic residential streets
Light traffic farm roads
II Residential streets 7000 to 104
Rural farm and residential roads 15000
III Urban minor collector streets 70000 to 105
Rural minor collector roads 150000
IV Urban minor arterial and 700000 to 106
Light industrial streets 1500000
Rural major collector and
Minor arterial highways
V Urban freeways, expressways, and 2000000 to 3 × 106
other principal arterial highways 4500000
Rural interstate and other principle
arterial highways
VI Urban interstate highways 7000000 to 107
Some industrial roads 15000000
 1.1.3 Reliability .

The reliability, it is a means of incorporating some degree of certainty into the design
process to ensure that the various design alterative will last the analysis period.
Generally, as the volume of traffic, and importance of the roadway increases, the risk
of not performing to expectation must be minimized. This is accomplished by
selecting higher levels of reliability. Table 4 presents recommended level of reliability
for various functional classification .
Table 4: Suggested Levels of Reliability

functional classification Recommended Level of Reliability

Urban Rural
Interstate and Other freeways
85-99.9 80-99.9
Principal Arterials
80-99 75-95
Collector
80-95 75-95
Local
50-80 50-80

NOTE: Results based on a survey of the AASHTO Pavement Design Task Force
For a given reliability level (R), the reliability factor (FR) is defined as follows:

𝐹𝑅 = 10−𝑍𝑅 ∗𝑆0
Where ZR is the standard normal deviate, and SO is the overall standard deviation. SO
Should be selected to represent the local condition, the value of So developed at the
American Association of Highway Officials (AASHO) road was 0.45 for flexible
pavements. The (W18) for the design equation is determined as follows:
𝑊18 = 𝑤18 × 𝐹𝑅
If the designer substitutes the traffic (w18) directly into the design equation for W18,
then FR = 1 and R will then be 50 percent, the designer is thereby taking a 50-50
chance that the designed sections will not survive the analysis period traffic with a
serviceability p pt.

1.1.4 Environmental Effects .

For the purpose of this technical reference, the total loss in serviceability will be
assumed all due to traffic load during the analysis period.

1.2 Performance Criteria .

1.2.1 Serviceability .
The serviceability of a pavement is defined as its ability to serve the type of traffic
which uses the facility, the measure of serviceability is the Prim Serviceability Index
(PSI) which ranges from 0 (impossible road), to 5 (perfect road). The 93 AASHTO
Guide uses the total change in serviceability index (∆PSI) as the serviceability design
criteria which is defined as follows:
∆PSI = po - pt
Where,
Po = initial serviceability index. A value of 4.2 was observed at the AAHO Test for
flexible pavement
Pt = terminal serviceability index, which is based on the lowest index that will be
tolerated before rehabilitation. An index of 2.5 or higher is suggested for design of
major highways and 2.0 for roadways with lesser traffic volumes.

1.3 Material Properties for Structural Design .

1.3.1 Effective Roadbed Soil Resilient Modulus .

The basis for material characterization in the 1993 AASHTO design Guide is resilient
modulus (MR). Equation (3) correlates between the corps of Engineers CBR value and
the in situ resilient modulus of soil:
𝑀𝑅 (𝑝𝑠𝑖) = 1500 × 𝐶𝐵𝑅 (3)
This equation is reasonable for fin-grained soil with a soaked CBR of 10 or loss.

1.3.2 Layer Coefficients .

1) Surface layer coefficient (can be obtained from the following figure).

The asphalt layer coefficient…………………………….a1

 2) Base layer Coefficient (can be obtained from the following figure).

The Base layer coefficient……………………………………….a2

3) Subbase layer Coefficient (can be obtained from the following figure).

The Sub Base layer coefficient…………………………….a3

 1.4 Pavement Structural Characteristics.

1.4.1 Drainage.
The level of drainage for a flexible pavement is accounted for through the use of
modified layer coefficients, i.e., a higher layer coefficient would be used for improved
drainage condition. The factor
For modifying the layer coefficient to account for drainage effect is referred to as an
m value and is integrated into the structural number (SN) as shown in Equation (4).
Table 5 presents a general definition corresponding to different drainage levels .

Table 5 : Drainage Conditions

Quality of Drainage Water Removed within

Excellent 2 hours
Good 1 day
Fair 1 week
Poor 1 month
Very poor Water will not drain

Table 6 presents the recommended 𝑚𝑖 , as a function of the quality drainage and the
percent of time during a year the pavement structure would normally be exposed to
moisture level approaching saturation.

Table 6: Recommended 𝑚𝑖 Values

Quality of Percent of Time Pavement Structure is Exposed to Moisture Levels

Drainage Approaching Saturation

Less than 1-5% 2-25% Greater than

1% 25%

Excellent 1.40-1.35 1.35-1.30 1.30-1.20 1.20

Good 1.35-1.25 1.25-1.15 1.15-1.00 1.00
Fair 1.25-1.15 1.15-1.05 1.00-0.80 0.80
Poor 1.15-1.05 1.05-0.80 0.80-0.60 0.60
Very poor 1.05-0.95 0.95-0.75 0.75-0.40 0.40
2. DESIGN EQUATIONS .

SN = a1D1 m1+ a2D2m2 + a3D3 m3………………………………………….(4)

Where:
SN ; flexible pavement structural number
a1, a2, and a3 ; coefficients of relative strength of the surface, base, and subbase
materials, respectively
D1, D2, and D3 ; actual thickness, in inches, of the surface, base, and subbase layers,
respectively.
m1,m2,m3 ; drainage coefficients for surface , base and subbase layers, respectively.

…………………….(5)
……………………………………..

Surface asphalt layer Mr=420000 psi

= 6 in = 15.24 cm

Base layer Mr= 28000 psi

= 7 in = 17.80 cm

Subbase layer Mr=13500 psi

= 6 in = 15.24 cm

Subgrade layer CBR=10 %

Pavement Structural Design